Alex entertaining himself on our big road trip...

One Year Ago Today...

...I stood in the Henan civil affairs office waiting to meet my new son. Cheng-cheng was taking a four hour train ride from Sanmenxia. He was scared but so sweet and showed his sense of humor very soon, pretending to feed his little bear. Now we have been blessed to be family for a year. We are so close and he has changed all our lives for the better.

Happy Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!


Pam

Heard on the radio the other day that the secret to contentment was knowing that God has certain things He wants me to do and he will give the time and energy to do them. Makes sense.

Baby Drew Had His Surgery!

This was one of the little guys we did the fundraiser for back in May. Here he was back in April, right after arriving at Love Without Boundaries Cleft healing Home. He was so tiny and had survived pneumonia. Here's the "Before" and "After" shots!
Doesn't he look wonderful? The nannies did a great job of fattening him up and now he has had his surgery. Thank you to everyone who helped!

Pam

Happy Fourth of July! (And Homeschool Plans)

The Agriculture Museum celebration was as sweet as ever- pony rides, watermelon and ice cream, train and carousel. There were no bouncies or band this year, due to the economy, but I don't like my kids bouncing in the bouncies in the heat like popcorn in the popper anyway. I did miss the bluegrass band I have to say. I was impressed by the indoor part of the museum, lots of interesting historical items pertaining to our state like crop duster airplanes, cotton farming and sawmills, as well as a huge train layout. I had only visited the outdoor part of the museum with the recreated farm and village.

I've firmed up my homeschool curriculum choices for next year. I decided against Tapestry of Grace after a friend told me about Heart of Dakota. I am so happy with it. You just open in up and it tells you what to do each day- good activities (not twaddle!) ,"living books" and so organized. It has literature, vocab, spelling, history (pioneers and patriots this year), geography, poetry, art, some science activities, bible and Christian character woven in. I can't say enough good things about it. I am using Horizons for Math, and supplementing the science in Dakota with Considering God's Creation. There is some grammar woven in this year's Dakota, but I had already bought Growing with Grammar, so I may use that or wait until next year. We'll be doing Far East Chinese for Youth for Mandarin. I used this text as an adult and it took us grown-ups 2 years for level one- so I expect this to last maybe 4 yrs for Dora! (And I still have my textbook, so I only had to buy the workbooks and CDs) I also found some cool things on ChinaSprout- Chinese dice with characters, character flash cards, and chinese magnetic poetry(I thought that was really unique). We already have the Mandy and Pandy Books, Kai-Lan and Follow Jade videos, and an internet linked picture dictionary, Huy Voun Lee books, etc...so we'll alternate all the resources there to keep it interesting. We'll continue to attend the adoptive children's Chinese school here once a month as well. And I need to get husband on a schedule helping with this area for sure! The local library has a free online program we'll have to check out too. Dora will start piano soon- we were blessed to recieve a free piano from a lady at our church!

The boys can participate a bit with the Bible, art, science and Chinese. I think I have enough educational resources for them, but I need to sit down and clarify my goals for each one. For example Zach needs more practice cutting and doing some pre-writing activities, so I need to plan how often to make that happen. I would also like to do a boy's devotional with him. I think that would be a special time for us.

I'm sure our homeschool group will be doing theme days, holiday parties, field trips, and Keepers (scout like badge program) once again. I think it's going to be a fun year and I can really see the Lord's provision in it all.

Love, Pam

Happy Father's Day

Thank you Dan, for being a great dad to these three! Love,Wifey.

Uncle Jon visit

Uncle Jon came to visit, and as you can tell, the kids didn't have a bit of fun! In the pic in the middle he was yelling "e yi!" (alligator) and the kids are hanging on for dear life so they wouldn't get eaten by touching the floor...

Today we went to the soc. security office and got CC a card. Nice to have some American side documentation for sure. I didn't think you could get one before re-adoption if you have an IR-4 visa, but it seems you can.

Pam

Whoooo loves homeschool?

We do an ABC unit study for the boys from Danielle's place.com. Each letter has a Bible verse and activities. One of our favorite things is the snack. For example we did fractions by chopping up gummy worms. Here we made rice cake owls. The cheese curl eyebrows cracked me up. the pupils are purple skittles because we have somehow acquired bags and bags of candy from attending birthday parties.

I have to keep it all in the fridge because we have been invaded by teeny sugar ants. They managed to crawl into an unopened bag of sugar in my cupboard and feasted for who knows how long.

The other day I was doing laundry and Alex came by. He gave me a sweet smile "I love you Mama. Soo much." The spontaneous I love you at last.

Another cute thing he did is come up to me at the playground and tell me "I a scary lao hu (tiger) mama" I looked at his grinning little face. "Oh yes baby, I see... " I replied, really thinking he is such a cutie-pie, pretty much the opposite of a scary tiger!

Trying to figure out all my curriculum and activities for next year. I know I'll be doing Tapestry of Grace (unit study based around history) but need to decide about grammar, science, etc...I need to change Dora's math. She did Saxon kindergarten but 1st grade is just the same again. Arrgh. We'll switch to Singapore or Horizons. Also need to decide among some great options for Chinese instruction. I'll post it all when I figure it out because I love reading about what other people are doing. Homeschool is tailored by mom (or dad) for every family- no two are alike!

Love, Pam

The recital at last!

Yesterday was Dora's ballet/tap recital. I was so proud of her. At one point her tap shoe flew off, but she never lost her cool! The boys were really fascinated by the set and costumes, etc... Alex kept saying "That Jiejie up there!"

Science Museum

The fundraiser was a success!

God had even bigger plans than we realized- We not only raised enough money for Isaac's surgery, but enough for a brand new baby who will be coming to Love Without Boundaries Sanmenxia Program!!!!!!

Meet Baby Drew!
Drew is 2 1/2 months old and weighs less than 7 pounds. This little fighter just survived pneumonia, which takes the life of many orphanage children, particularly those with the additional challenges of feeding with a cleft condition. He is at an LWB healing home, where he can receive special care before and after surgery. As soon as we saw him, Isaac's sponsors and I began praying we would be able to help him as well.

I never thought we would make enough even for Isaac in one fundraiser. This has been amazing. Thank you to everyone who donated, spread the word, and prayed for this, a chance to change these boys lives forever. I am so grateful to you (right after the Big Guy upstairs of course!)

Love, Pam

blast from the past

20052009

OK, one more update

We have changed the date and venue of the sale:

Sat May 9th, 7-12
Madison Square Center for the Arts
2013 Main St, Madison, MS

I'll be on WLBT on May 2nd instead of the 24th. We'll still be having Magician Dorian LaChance making balloon animals, gourmet cupcakes by Southern Belle Cakes, bake sale table, and raffling off the baby quilts. In addition, you can register to win a three month membership to the Club.

We still need lots of gently used items for the rummage so please let us know if you need a pickup.

Pam

Update on the Issac fundraiser

Things are going well with the fundraiser. My friend Kristina has set up a great website http://surgeryfund.tripod.com/index.htm. I will be on the morning show on WLBT Sunday May 24th to talk about LWB and Isaac's story. There will be gourmet cupcakes for sale from a local woman’s business, Southern Belle Cakes. Magician Dorian LaChance will be making balloon animals for donations. Plus, there will be two homemade baby quilts to be raffled off.

We have changed the time of the sale to be just Saturday May 30th, location to be determined soon.

A dream for Isaac

A few weeks ago I sent this e-mail to some local friends: Please copy and send to your friends too or post it on your blog!

Hi Everyone,

A few weeks ago, the pastor at my church preached about anything being possible in Christ. He encouraged us to think about dreams of ministries that God laid on our heart, that we pushed out of our mind as impossible. I immediately thought of Isaac, a Chines orphan boy cared for by Love Without Boundaries, a charity I volunteer with.

Isaac is an fun loving 5 year old boy who lives under the care of my son's former residence, an orphanage in one of the poorest regions of China. Thanks to Love Without Boundaries , he now enjoys the love and care of a foster family and can attend school. My homeschool group helps sponsor him.

But Isaac doesn't have everything he needs for a normal life. He has a cleft palate that is need of repair. School is a struggle for him because he can't speak well. His mouth looks disfigured inside, so that is hard on him as well. Love without Boundaries can't afford to pay for his surgery- they have heart babies and children with other life-threatening conditions they struggle to raise funds for.

I know God must have great plans for Issac's life. Issac's sponsors have decided that they believe anything is possible, too. We need to raise between $1,000-1,200. They have agreed to hold a fundraising rummage and bake sale on Saturday, May 30th from 6-11 am

There are many ways you can help:

*Clean out your house and donate gently used items. E-mail me at pam.lee@lwbmail.com to arrange a pickup if you are local.

*Donate online (and get the tax deduction) by visiting www.lovewithoutboundaries.com. Click on "medical", then "sponsor a child", then "cleft surgery fund" and type Issac/Sanmenxia/Palate.

*Forward this e-mail to your contacts!

Thank you so much for your help. Our dream is that this little boy whose name means "laughter" will soon be laughing and learning, and growing up with his best chances for a bright future.

Sincerely,

Pam Lee
Sanmenxia Foster Care Coordinator
Love Without Boundaries Foundation
"Hope and Healing for Children in Need"

Happy Easter

The "Real Thomas"

I took Z to Day out with Thomas in Alabama to celebrate his 4rth birthday Quite a drive, but worth it. I think it it was a nice memory for him. When we were leaving he said "they should know I can't share my Real Thomas" as he looked back with a scowl at the kids getting on board. He still asks me everyday why Thomas has to go to other cities.

The paycheck

Every morning...and I never get laid off!

Yummies- Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Good for what ails ya...my own recipe

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

6 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
8 to 12 oz choc chips. variation butterscotch chips, etc...

cream the butter and sugar, yadda, yadda, yadda . You know what to do :) Bake at 350 for about 10 min. Use silicone mats if you want to be able to ever remove the cookies from your pans without a jackhammer. Eat within a day or two or freeze. They don't keep too long because of the whole wheat and no preservatives.

Mr. Frumble's Bad Day

...that's the title of Zach's favorite story lately. Reminds me of yesterday, when we found out everyone at Dan's company will be forced to take a week of unpaid leave. Like money isn't tight already. I just got the nastiest bill for Alex's urology testing...Aaah! But the Bible says "be anxious for nothing" so I'll try to take heed. As long as everyone is healthy, especially the bubbas, you have to be glad.

Meet Dessie

Look at that face. Dessie has been through alot in her less than one year of life. She is under the care of my Alex's orphanage and has a serious heart condition. She is in need of two sponsors at $35 per month to provide her with a loving foster home under Love Without Boundaries supervision. Sponsors will recieve photos and updates every month!

Love Without Boundaries nutrition program provides her with a high quality formula and the medical team hopes to arrange heart surgery for her, which donations are needed for as well.

Dessie is an outgoing and active baby girl, despite having heart disease. She is learning to talk and can say "mom." She enjoys eating finger foods all by herself. Her favorite foods are apples, cookies, and dumplings.

If you would like to be Dessie's sponsor, or donate to her surgery, you can visit www.Lovewithoutboundaries.com or contact me.

Love, Pam

Happy Birthday CC!

Look who's 3!
Looking forward to sharing many more with you, my forever son.

Urology testing

We spent 5 hours at two hospitals today getting the last of the work-ups done for CC. The doc was thrilled. He said "He has one of the best bladders I've ever seen in a Spina-bifida patient." The work up included an ultrasound, which showed that his kidneys are good too and weren't affected by the melamine-tainted milk from China. The catheterization part of the testing was no fun but CC was a trooper and so patient the whole day. Daddy took off work and my sweet friend Lisa took care of D and Z for us so that little guy could have both mommy and daddy by his side. Now CC is all squared away- he will see the ped. orthopaedist,urologist and neurosurgeon every 6 months and get an MRI once per year to make sure his cord isn't tethering as he grows. Future visits with the urologist shoud just be an ultrasound, which he loved. He was grinning and saying "tickle, tickle" as the tech moved the scanner on his belly.


Here's a pic Dora took with her camera. A little brotherly love for ya.Blessed beyond measure, Pam